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Meet our newest missionaries in Portugal!

Pedro and Ana.jpgTuesday 17 December 2024 10:05

After three years of preparing for ministry in the UK and a growing desire to serve the Lord in full-time Christian ministry - Pedro and Ana Fonseca returned to Portugal and are part of a church plant in their home city.

More and more workers in ECM are people ministering in their own countries. An example of this is Pedro and Ana, a Portuguese couple who have just joined us to be part of a church plant in their home city of Porto. They say: "We are a family of three living in Portugal – Pedro, Ana and Natanael, who is 18 months old. 

Pedro grew up in a Christian family and Ana was converted during her time at university. We live in Porto, a beautiful city in northern Portugal known for its world-renowned Port wine.

Pedro and Ana

"About three years ago, seeing the need for gospel workers in Portugal and with a growing desire to serve the Lord in full-time Christian ministry, we decided to pursue Bible training.This led us to the UK, where we studied at the Cornhill Training Course and served as ministry trainees at Emmanuel Church Wimbledon. After three years of preparing for ministry, we returned to Portugal just over a month ago to serve the Lord in Porto.

"Portugal, and especially the northern region, is predominantly Roman Catholic. Many here still live in spiritual darkness, burdened by a false gospel that emphasises works. Evangelical churches are few, often small, and frequently lack expository Bible teaching and a heart for evangelism. Yet, people in Portugal desperately need to hear the saving message of the gospel of grace in Christ.

"We have a great desire to see more people coming to faith in Christ and believers growing in their knowledge and love for Jesus. And we believe that the faithful proclamation of God’s Word is the way to bring people to faith and grow them to maturity in Christ.

"We are very excited to have joined a new church plant in Porto. The church is part of the Christian Presbyterian Church and began holding public services in March 2024. On Sunday mornings we have now about 20 people attending the service, with some non-Christians going every week. For now we are meeting in a house, but we are looking to find a public venue soon.

"As part of the church plant’s team, our ministry will revolve around teaching God’s Word. Pedro will join the church’s pastor as part of the preaching team, while Ana will mainly work with women. We plan to study the Bible with people in small groups and one-to-one, and organise activities/events to reach out to the lost with the gospel.

"We would also love to serve the church in northern Portugal more widely by providing training opportunities to equip Christians for word ministry. We believe this to be one of the greatest needs of the church in Portugal, and would love to help meet this need through mentoring, small group training, or training conferences.

"We are all too aware that without the Lord’s help, our labour will be in vain. So, thank you so much to those who are partnering with us in prayer. We are very grateful too for the brothers and sisters who have also decided to support us financially. By God’s grace we currently have about 50% of the support we need. We are praying and trusting that the Lord would provide so that we can both be involved in ministry full-time."

Please pray for Porto, that many would come to saving faith in Christ, for we know that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21).

Find out about Pedro and Ana's work here

Read this and more stories in our latest magazine

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